Managerial Accounting: Creating Value in a Dynamic Business Environment
12th Edition
ISBN: 9781260417074
Author: HILTON, Ronald
Publisher: MCGRAW-HILL HIGHER EDUCATION
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Textbook Question
Chapter 11, Problem 42P
Mark Fletcher, president of SoftGro, Inc., was looking forward to seeing the performance reports for November because he knew the company’s sales for the month had exceeded budget by a considerable margin. SoftGro, a distributor of educational software packages, had been growing steadily for approximately two years. Fletcher’s biggest challenge at this point was to ensure that the company did not lose control of expenses during this growth period. When Fletcher received the November reports, he was dismayed to see the large unfavorable variance in the company’s Monthly Selling Expense Report that follows.
Fletcher called in the company’s new controller, Susan Porter, to discuss the implications of the variances reported for November and to plan a strategy for improving performance. Porter suggested that the company’s reporting format might not be giving Fletcher a true picture of the company’s operations. She proposed that SoftGro implement flexible budgeting. Porter offered to redo the Monthly Selling Expense Report for November using flexible budgeting so that Fletcher could compare the two reports and see the advantages of flexible budgeting.
Porter discovered the following information about the behavior of SoftGro’s selling expenses.
- The total compensation paid to the sales force consists of a monthly base salary and a commission; the commission varies with sales dollars.
- Sales office expense is a semi variable cost with the variable portion related to the number of orders processed. The fixed portion of office expense is $3,000,000 annually and is incurred uniformly throughout the year.
- Subsequent to the adoption of the annual budget for the current year, SoftGro decided to open a new sales territory. As a consequence, approval was given to hire six additional sales people effective November 1. Porter decided that these additional six people should be recognized in her revised report.
- Per diem reimbursement to the sales force, while a fixed amount per day, is variable with the number of sales personnel and the number of days spent traveling. SoftGro’s original budget was based on an average sales force of 90 people throughout the year with each salesperson traveling 15 days per month.
- The company’s shipping expense is a semi variable cost with the variable portion, $3.00 per unit, dependent on the number of units sold. The fixed portion is incurred uniformly throughout the year.
Required:
- 1. Citing the benefits of flexible budgeting, explain why Susan Porter would propose that Soft Grouse flexible budgeting in this situation.
- 2. Prepare a revised Monthly Selling Expense Report for November that would permit Mark Fletcher to more clearly evaluate SoftGro’s control over selling expenses. The report should have a line for each selling expense item showing the appropriate budgeted amount, the actual selling expense, and the monthly dollar variance.
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Mark Fletcher, President of SoftGro, Inc., was looking forward to seeing the performance reports for November because he knew the company's sales for the month had exceeded budget by a considerable margin. SoftGro, a distributor of educational software packages, has been growing steadily for approximately two years. Fletcher's biggest challenge at this point was to ensure that the company did not lose control of expenses during this growth period. When Fletcher received the November reports, he was dismayed to see the large unfavorable variance in the company's Monthly Selling expense Report that follows:
Annual Budget
November Budget
November Actual
November Variance
Unit sales
2,000,000
280,000
310,000
30,000
Dollar sales
$ 80,000,000.00
$ 11,200,000.00
$ 12,400,000.00
$ 1,200,000.00
Orders processed
54,000
6,500
5,800
-700
Sales personnel per month
90
90
96
-6
Advertising
$ 19,800,000.00
$…
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Chapter 11 Solutions
Managerial Accounting: Creating Value in a Dynamic Business Environment
Ch. 11 - Distinguish between static and flexible budgets.Ch. 11 - Explain the advantage of using a flexible budget.Ch. 11 - Why are flexible overhead budgets based on...Ch. 11 - Distinguish between a columnar and a formula...Ch. 11 - Show, using T-accounts, how production overhead is...Ch. 11 - How have advances in manufacturing technology...Ch. 11 - What is the interpretation of the...Ch. 11 - Jeffries Companys only variable-overhead cost is...Ch. 11 - What is the interpretation of the...Ch. 11 - Distinguish between the interpretations of the...
Ch. 11 - What is the fixed-overhead budget variance?Ch. 11 - What is the correct interpretation of the...Ch. 11 - Describe a common but misleading interpretation of...Ch. 11 - Draw a graph showing budgeted and applied fixed...Ch. 11 - What types of organizations use flexible budgets?Ch. 11 - What is the conceptual problem of applying fixed...Ch. 11 - Distinguish between the control purpose and the...Ch. 11 - Why are fixed-overhead costs sometimes called...Ch. 11 - Draw a graph showing both budgeted and applied...Ch. 11 - Give one example of a plausible activity base to...Ch. 11 - Explain how an activity-based flexible budget...Ch. 11 - Crystal Glassware Company has the following...Ch. 11 - Refer to the data in the preceding exercise. Use...Ch. 11 - Crystal Glassware Company has the following...Ch. 11 - The following data are the actual results for...Ch. 11 - Evening Star, Inc. produces binoculars of two...Ch. 11 - The controller for Rainbow Childrens Hospital,...Ch. 11 - You recently received the following note from the...Ch. 11 - You brought your work home one evening, and your...Ch. 11 - Refer to DCdesserts.coms activity-based flexible...Ch. 11 - Montoursville Control Company, which manufactures...Ch. 11 - Prob. 33ECh. 11 - The following data pertain to Aurora Electronics...Ch. 11 - Calgary Paper Company produces paper for...Ch. 11 - Gibralter Insurance Company uses a flexible...Ch. 11 - Country time Studios is a recording studio in...Ch. 11 - Newark Plastics Corporation developed its overhead...Ch. 11 - Johnson Electrical produces industrial ventilation...Ch. 11 - Fall City Hospital has an outpatient clinic....Ch. 11 - Maxwell Company uses a standard cost accounting...Ch. 11 - Mark Fletcher, president of SoftGro, Inc., was...Ch. 11 - LawnMate Company manufactures power mowers that...Ch. 11 - For each of the following independent Cases A and...Ch. 11 - Prob. 45PCh. 11 - Prob. 46PCh. 11 - WoodCrafts, Inc. is a manufacturer of furniture...Ch. 11 - Rutherford Wheel and Axle, Inc. has an automated...Ch. 11 - Chillco Corporation produces containers of frozen...Ch. 11 - Montreal Scholastic Supply Company uses a...Ch. 11 - College Memories, Inc. publishes college...Ch. 11 - While Mountain Sled Company manufactures childrens...Ch. 11 - Cleveland Computer Accessory Company (CCAC)...Ch. 11 - Prob. 54CCh. 11 - Prob. 55C
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